Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the initial announcement of
the GNU Project, a pioneering initiative to develop an operating system
that gives all users the freedom to modify it and publish modified
versions, individually or working together. The Free Software Foundation
Europe (FSFE) commends the substantial achievements of GNU's first
quarter-century and look forward to furthering their shared goal of
facilitating software freedoms.
27th September 2008 — 25 years ago today, the GNU Project was launched
by Richard M. Stallman with the goal of creating an entire operating
system that anyone was free to use, study, share and improve. These
freedoms grant all users the independence and flexibility to use their
computer for any purpose, without the artificial restrictions which
proprietary software imposes, such as vendor lock-in, proprietary file
formats and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). From its humble
origins in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT, GNU has grown to be
one of the most popular operating systems in the world and fostered the
development of thousands of other Free Software applications.
The Free Software Foundation (FSFE's sister organisation based in
Boston, MA) was founded in 1985 to promote the core idea behind
Stallman's GNU Project: that the freedom to examine, modify, copy, and
share software is essential for a just, free society. Much of the work
was done between 1983 and 1991, and this laid the groundwork for many
third-party projects which later also brought these freedoms to computer
users. The operating system was completed in 1992 by the third-party
development of a core component called "Linux". The success of GNU/Linux
operating system encouraged the development of many other Free Software
projects such as Firefox, KDE and OpenOffice.org. Today, there are
hundreds of GNU/Linux distributions in the world, powering millions of
computers ranging from web servers and kitchen appliances to cellphones
and laptops.
"The contributions of the GNU project to the computing world are
difficult to overstate", says Georg C. F. Greve, President of the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). "For the first time there was an
awareness of Free Software, and the concept of Copyleft revolutionised
the way in which freedom is spread and protected. Both intellectual
achievements laid the groundwork for the immense success of GNU/Linux,
which has meanwhile established itself as the primary competitor to
proprietary operating systems across the gamut of computing, from
large-scale scientific research to affordable consumer laptops. In so
doing GNU was at the root of giving users control over their computing
environment and data."
The FSFE was established in 2001 to further the political and social
goals that also provide the basis of the GNU Project, and to support the
flourishing European Free Software community. "The FSFE works closely
with its partners around Europe and beyond to ensure that the spirit of
Stallman's original announcement is backed up with practise, and works
to promote awareness of the Free Software message", explains Shane
Coughlan, coordinator of the FSFE's Freedom Task Force.
More and more countries are turning to Free Software for use in the
public sector and education. While many businesses have long been using
and contributing to Free Software in order to gain marketplace
advantages and cost savings, governments are increasingly realising the
benefits of Free Software in terms of sovereignty, transparency, and
self-determination. By its very nature of promoting sharing,
collaboration, and sustainability, Free Software ensures that all users
have the ability to determine and shape their computing future.
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the
information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of
Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy.
Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free
Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by
supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
You will find further information about the work of the FSFE at
http://fsfeurope.org/.
Notes for editors
* The GNU Project seeks to enable and maintain the four fundamental
freedoms of software: to run software "for any purpose", to study and
adapt software according to individual needs, to distribute copies of
the software, and to improve the software, sharing the benefits with
others.
* The GNU Project pioneered the concept of copyleft licensing, which
preserves fundamental software freedoms by using copyright to enforce
the sharing of derivative software under the same license as original
software.
Contact
* Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57
* Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73
* Sweden: +46 31 7802160
* Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66
* UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7
Other ways to get in touch with the FSFE.
FSFE to make legal consolidation tool available in 10 languages
2008-09-26, Zurich - Shane Coughlan, FSFE
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) announced today that it plans
to make the Fiduciary License Agreement (FLA) available ten languages.
The selected languages are English, German, French, Italian, Swedish,
Serbian, Polish, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.
The FLA assists projects with re-licensing and license enforcement by
consolidating copyright into a single organization, and is effective in
jurisdictions based on both civil law and common law. It also transfers
a full set of rights back to the author, ensuring that both parties
maintain the maximum freedom possible. The translation of the FLA will
help provide the benefits of copyright consolidation to local projects
across Europe.
The FLA is available as part of FSFE's Fiduciary Programme. It can also
be customised for use by other organisations, and was recently adopted
by KDE e.V., the non-profit organisation representing the KDE Project in
legal and financial matters.
"This translation project contributes to a growing collection of
management tools for Free Software," says Shane Coughlan, the
coordinator of FSFE's legal project. "In the last two years such tools
have increased in importance and enjoy a broad spectrum of
non-commercial and commercial support. Projects are making plans for
the long-term development of their code and we want to assist with that.
Our current translation work is being partially supported by Google
through a generous donation made earlier in the year. I hope that
in the future other commercial users of Free Software will support
similar initiatives so we can continue building a strong foundation for
sustainable development."
More information on the FLA can be found at
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/fla
You can download a PDF copy of the FLA here:
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/FLA.en.pdf
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the
information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of
Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and
copy.Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free
Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by
supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
FSFE's homepage can be found at http://www.fsfeurope.org
You can contact us via email: FTF @ fsfeurope.org
You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57
Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73
Sweden: +46 31 7802160
Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66
UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7
Press contact: Shane Coughlan, FTF Coordinator, FSFE extension: 408
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org
The most exciting thing this month is the amount of Fellowship activity we
are seeing around Europe. It's great to see more and more local meetings,
giving Free Software supporters a chance to hang out together and share
views.
I've been lucky enough to attend several of the recent gatherings and what
impresses me most is that our Fellows discuss such a broad range of topics.
People talk about their local area, concerns about digital rights, business
perspectives and ideas for future strategy. It's a dynamic environment to
be working in. I'd love to see more meetings, especially in my own 'home'
countries of Ireland and the UK. If you would like to be involved (whether
you are a Fellow or not) please visit http://fsfeurope.org/contribute/ or
send an email to team(a)fsfeurope.org.
Shane, Zurich Office
1. FSFE welcomes KDE's adoption of the Fiduciary Licence Agreement (FLA)
2. FSFE at Akademy 2008
3. Swedish Fellows meet for talks and barbecue
4. Fellowship meeting in Nijmegen
5. Fellowship meeting in Duesseldorf
6. Zurich Fellowship meeting
7. New members of FSFE
8. Printable information material available for download
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
9. 'The strategic implementation of Free Software in business' speech at OpenExpo
1. FSFE welcomes KDE's adoption of the Fiduciary Licence Agreement (FLA)
KDE e.V. decided to adopt a customised version of FSFE's Fiduciary Licence
Agreement (FLA) during their recent general assembly. The FLA is a copyright
assignment that allows Free Software projects to assign their copyright to
single organisation or person. This enables projects to ensure their legal
maintainability, including important issues such as preserving the ability to
re-license and certainty to have sufficient rights to enforce licences in
court. KDE Project developers will in the future have the option of copyright
consolidation by assigning code to KDE e.V.
http://dot.kde.org/1218525921/
2. FSFE at Akademy 2008
Shane Coughlan, FTF Coordinator at FSFE, participated in the 'Driving
innovation with Open Desktop Technologies' at Akademy 2008 on Tuesday, 12
August 2008. Shane was also around the conference for a few days talking
with developers and sharing ideas. Armijn Hemel from gpl-violations.org
was also present, though he was running a USB plugfest rather than focusing
on licensing for this event.
3. Swedish Fellows meet for talks and barbequeue
Eight people were present at the meeting, which took place in
Slottskogen and lasted for about three hours. The weather was nice
enough to have a simple barbecue. Among the many discussion topics
were the usage of free software in non-core parts of businesses, the
BSA's crusade on unlicenced proprietary software as a golden opportunity
for free software and ways to increase visibility and knowledge of free
software for non-technical users. Some time was also devoted to talking
about FSCONS, both in terms of practical information and of long term
strategies. Two of the fellows present at the meeting volunteered to
help out at the conference.
4. Fellowship meeting in Nijmegen
Ciaran O'Riordan (Fellowship Ambassador) and Shane Coughlan (FTF Coordinator)
attended a meeting of the Dutch Fellowship at Café Jos, Daalseweg 309, 6523 CA
Nijmegen on the 28th of August. Adriaan de Groot from KDE was also present,
and in between discussions about KDE 4, the cultural expansion of Free Software
and baking muffins, plenty of beer was consumed. One of the main topics of
discussion was software patents, something that many feel will become a high
profile European political issue once the current European Commissioner's term
comes to an end.
5. Fellowship meeting in Duesseldorf
Ciaran O'Riordan (Fellowship Ambassador) and Shane Coughlan (FTF Coordinator)
attended the latest meeting of the Duesseldorf Fellowship at Gasttaette
"Suedstern", Bilker Allee 66, 40219 Duesseldorf on the 30th of August.
Discussion was lively and ranged from software engineering to usability
and political developments in Germany. As in Nijmegen, some discussions
centred around software patents and what we need to do to ensure we can
address the topic fully.
6. Zurich Fellowship meeting
There was a meeting of the Zurich Fellowship in the FSFE Zurich office on the
15th of August. This is the second meeting for our Fellows at this location,
and this time around we talked about the forthcoming Software Freedom Day
events. Ben, our office intern, is helping to coordinate the distribution
of information at a local university on the day. Shane Coughlan was also
at the meeting and briefed everyone on KDE and the adoption of the FLA.
7. New members of FSFE
The team is proud to welcome Fernanda G. Weiden, the coach for FSFE's
system administration team, and Björn Schießle, the official
coordinator for German translation. Graeme West is the new intern at
the Zürich Office. Congratulations to all these people.
8. Printable information material available for download
A folder with general information about FSFE and Free Software, and some
leaflets with specific information about FSFE's projects and activities
are now available online in HTML and PDF format. Everybody can
download, print, distribute!
http://www.fsfeurope.org/documents/printable/
All the downloadable PDFs are auto-generated from the same sources as the
HTML web pages, using technologies like XSLT and TeX, and of course
built on exclusively Free Software. Curious how that works? Interested
in hacks like this one? Join FSFE's team of webmasters!
http://www.fsfeurope.org/contribute/web/
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
9. 'The strategic implementation of Free Software in business' speech at OpenExpo
Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, will deliver a speech entitled 'The strategic
implementation of Free Software in business' at the OpenExpo conference in
Winterthur, Switzerland, on the 25th of September.
You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html
Copyright (C) FSFE. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.